Guest Blogger - Sean

PARIS - Daisy, Baba and I, Sean, the guest blogger tonight, walked up the Eiffel Tower. Believe it or not, it is actually faster than standing in line for 2 hours plus my trainer will be impressed. We had a delightful picnic in the Champ de Mars beforehand where we met some friendly Colombians and a really drunk homeless man who spoke German.

Shopping in Paris is "parfait." Funky European clothes at a fraction of the price (even given the exchange rate) of trendy NYC boutiques. I wanted one shirt so badly that we forced the salesperson to strip the mannequin. A job I would gladly have taken on myself in NY, but was afraid I would be deported for in Paris. She was quite nervous during the strip down, but I walked away with the perfect shirt.

In an effort to fit in with my European brethren, I touched at least one item at every museum. I figure if it is not blocked off, like the Mona Lisa, they must want you to touch it. Daisy and Baba were horrified.

In the Marais, I saw a Bear's Den. I tried to go in with Baba and Daisy in tow, but Goldilocks is not welcome. Go figure.

The weather was great. I lugged around my umbrella several days and when I left it at home, it rained. Luckily, I had already bought the new perfect raincoat. No mannequin-stripping required.

Some tips on Versailles: sunscreen, even for natural tanners. If you want to go to Marie Antoinette's house, you can get there through the gardens (8 Euro) or via the street that borders the castle property (free). You do not need to stand in line for over an hour in the blazing sun as we did.

Bateaux Mouches: Beware - they cancel the last boat of the night if there are less than 30 people. On our second attempt, we got there early for a sunset cruise at 9:30 PM. Ahhh Paris.

A whirlwind 4 day visit and now back to work I go.

Guest Blogger - Apple

PARIS - Bonjour! Today your blog comes to you from "Apple" our guest blogger from NY!

Merci! Bonjour blogophiles!! I have spent the past week here at Rue St. Jacque. Our hosts, the lovely daisy and baba, have been absolutely wonderful. The daily morning croissants are a special treat. (One that I must not continue after this trip or I will gain a million pounds!) Highlights include - biking thrugh the vineyards of the Burgundy region (beaune, montrachet, pommard), The Louvre, The Musee D'Orsay, The Musee L'Orangerie (the waterlillies by Monet are breathtaking), The Rodin Museum (the Thinker rules!), strolling along the Seine, views of the Eiffel Tower around every corner, and, of course the vin, fromage and boeuf are spectacular!

Merci to our amazing hosts. A Bientot!

Au revoir!

Apple

Stir Crazy

TRAPPED INSIDE THE APARTMENT - Baba and I have spent nearly the entire day inside the apartment. It is making me go bananas. B-a-n-a-n-a-s! You see, we had a visitor last Thursday, Monsieur Benelli, the Corsican owner of the antique bookshop beneath our apartment. Mr. Benelli sells his rare books at auction to the likes of Christies, etc. On Thursday, he came to us with a problem. It seems our shower was raining down on his bathroom. Mon dieux!

Fortunately, it was more like a slow leak, or that's what it was like by the time he dragged us down there to his cramped, dark, soggy little bathroom at the back of his dusty, book-filled shop. Either way, it meant a call to the landlord and a reduction in showers for us until the repairman could come. Which wasn't, it would turn out, until Monday. It was a holiday weekend after all.

Monday came and went, and while a man named Kamel (like the cigarettes he told me, except spelled with a K, but I didn't point that out) did drop by the apartment and look at the shower, there was no sign of any tools and no work was completed. He would return demain après-midi. Well, today is demain and it is well after après-midi. Kamel left behind a worker who is finishing up. At least we think he is finishing up. There have been lots of gestures pointing at fresh grout, lots of comme ça's and comme ça's and c'est bon's.

The good news is we can shower tomorrow morning after six huere! The bad news is we only have one bathroom with one toilet and if he doesn't scram soon I am going to burst, and that, my friends, is not c'est bon.

Don't mess with the midwives!

PARIS - Baba and I were waiting for the plumber when we heard a commotion outside our window. Click on the video for the full report.

May Day! May Day!

PARIS - It should have occurred to me when each of the huit cassiers had lines about 20 people deep that something was up. I've seen It's a Wonderful Life, and while I wasn't in a bank, in hindsight this was a run on the marché. Friday, May 1, was a bank holiday. The French (and apparently the rest of the world, too, minus the U.S. of A) celebrate Labor Day on the 1st of May. In Paris, that means two things: the stores are fermé and the people march. We had read that most of the action happens around the Bastille. Low and behold, the demonstration marched right through the 5eme. Bon chance! Our second demonstration in less than 1 month! It was fun to be in the throngs of a protest (if only for a moment while we crossed the Boulevard St-Michel to get to the city's lungs, Jardin du Luxembourg, and even if we didn't know what they were chanting about). I like the Frenchies and their protests, they have a lot of spunk. I snapped a few shots during and after the march.

Je suis une débutante

PARIS - What have I been doing lately? Lots and lots of wandering around and drawing. I finally figured out how to sharpen charcoal pencils thanks to a really informative online video. I would have tried the method earlier, but I didn't have any papier de verre. Well, I found some on Thursday at a little shop off of rue Cler!! So yesterday, I dutifully sharpened and shaped and sanded. And now I have some really nice long, sharp points. I had to trot them out for a sketch.

No better spot than our favorite Jardin du Luxembourg. Baba goes for a run and I sketch one of the sculptures. Yesterday was one of my most ambitious attempts yet. I focused on trying to sketch the back of man lunging forward as he tries to escape from a messy tangle of characters: a donkey, other men, a chick and transitioning-demon-men as captured in bronze in the Triomphe de Silène. The long points handle more like paintbrushes than pencils, which took some getting used to. I have started to be able to tune out the shoulder gapers. I had a nice chat with an old man who came to look at my work. I'm not sure what he said exactly, but I repeated my new favorite phrase: Je suis une débutante.

Paris Underground

PARIS - So many interesting things happen in the métro. So far I've seen a grown woman shove a 14 year old boy out of her way as she made her way off of the RER C when he tried to twist through the throngs of exiting passengers. He bounced right off her forearms and onto me. Didn't seem to phase him much. He pushed his way onto the train. I, however, was not so pushy and found myself on the platform as the doors slammed shut and the trained rolled away. Note to self: position yourself at a less populated (but not totally empty) car to increase chances of boarding.

Then there was the old man with a seriously bloody nose that pooled at his feet. It appeared as though someone offered to help him, but he was still there dotting his face with what looked like a croissant bag and bloody bloody bleeding when I got on the train.

And the time the gendarmes were posted at the stairs to check the identification papers of all of the brown-skinned passengers and no one seemed to think it was strange except me and a Mike White look-a-like (or maybe the real Mike White) and his girlfriend.

There are cool things, too, like the Varenne station that has a full-sized replica of Rodin's Thinker on the platform. And the concerts. And the fact that I can go anywhere I want in Paris with a cool little card called the Navigo juiced up Carte Orange-style which means rides illimité. Woo hoo!